College Football Awards Week 5 October 4, 2015

Clemson triumphed over Notre Dame in what was perhaps the most thrilling game of the season thus far. Mandatory photo credit: Joshua S. Kelly of USA TODAY Sports

(Note:  All rankings are current AP [week 5] unless otherwise noted.)

COACHES

Wish I were him: Dabo Swinney, Clemson

Glad I’m not him: Al Golden, Miami

Lucky guy: Bret Bielema, Arkansas

Poor guy: Mark Richt, Georgia

Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Jim Mora, UCLA

Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Matt Rhule, Temple

Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Hugh Freeze, Ole Miss

Desperately seeking … anything:  Steve Spurrier, South Carolina

TEAMS

Thought you’d kick butt, you did: TCU (defeated Texas 50-7)

Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Michigan State (defeated Purdue 24-21)

Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Texas (lost to No. 4 TCU 50-7)

Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t:  Purdue (lost to No. 2 Michigan State 24-21) T

hought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did:  Iowa (defeated North Texas 62-16)

Dang, they’re good: TCU

Dang, they’re bad:  Louisiana-Lafayette

Can’t Stand Prosperity:  Ole Miss

Did the season start? Georgia Tech

Can the season end?  Wyoming

Can the season never end?  Clemson

GAMES

Play this again:  No. 12 Clemson 24, No. 6 Notre Dame 22

Play this again, too:  Arkansas 24, Tennessee 20

Never play this again: No. 4 TCU 50, Texas 7

What? Tulane 45, UCF 31

Huh?  Iowa 10, #19 Wisconsin 6

Are you kidding me?  No. 12 Clemson 24, No. 6 Notre Dame 22

Oh – my – God:  Arizona State 38, No. 7 UCLA 23

Told you so:  Louisville 20, N.C. State 13

NEXT WEEK

(rankings are current AP (post-week 5, pre-week 6)

Ticket to die for:  No. 10 Oklahoma vs. Texas in the Cotton Bowl

Also:  No. 13 Northwestern @ No. 18 Michigan

Best non-Power Five vs. Power Five matchup: Syracuse @ South Florida

Best non-Power Five matchup: No. 25 Boise State @ Colorado State

Upset alert: Miami (Fla.) @ No. 12 Florida State

Must win: Wisconsin @ Nebraska

Offensive explosion: No. 23 Cal @ No. 5 Utah

Defensive struggle: Illinois @ No. 22 Iowa

Great game no one is talking about:  No. 21 Oklahoma State @ West Virginia

Intriguing coaching matchup:  Pat Fitzgerald of Northwestern vs. Jim Harbaugh of Michigan

Who’s bringing the body bags? No. 3 Baylor @ Kansas

Why are they playing? New Mexico State @ No. 14 Ole Miss

Plenty of good seats remaining: Portland State @ North Texas

They shoot horses, don’t they?  Troy @ Mississippi State

Week 5 Take-aways:

What a weekend for college football!  The grand irony is that this week left more questions than answers.

What a game it was in Clemson, S.C.  Notre Dame came to town ranked No. 6 in the nation.  The Tigers were ranked twelfth.  ESPN’s Gameday crew was there.  A massive rainstorm persisted throughout the day and night.  Fans watching on national TV witnessed the team descend the hill in “Death Valley” to take on the highly-ranked Fighting Irish.  Mistakes were made on both sides:  typical ups-and-downs of a thrilling contest between highly-ranked teams.  In the end, the Tigers triumphed.

But all of this ought not to obfuscate that Brian Kelly has built a strong program in South Bend.  Were they overrated at No. 6?  Definitely.  Are they still a tough team?  Definitely.

Tennessee lost yet another heartbreaker, this time to Arkansas.  It was a close contest throughout the game, but the same problem continues to plague the Vols:  they have yet to learn how to close a game, which is to say, they need to learn to stop blowing leads late in games.

Steve Spurrier dropped yet another game to a low-standing team in the SEC.  Is it too early to say that the wheels might be coming off the program?  Will Spurrier eventually have the fortitude to fall on his sword and thus clear the path for the program to be lead in a new direction?

Worse yet is the condition of the Texas Longhorns, who just got drubbed by TCU in Fort Worth, 50-7.  Yes, Coach Gary Patterson has gradually built up a super-strong program over the years, but is the lack of quarterback play on the part of the Longhorns the only thing that explains such a debacle, or is it something more systemic than who is the head coach?

Oh, and this slump could not come at a worse time, as Texas takes on Oklahoma in the Cotton Bowl next week.

The Cincinnati Bearcats have given us two good Thursday night games in a row, and in the process, have walked away with two wins.  The most recent one was home over the Miami Hurricanes.  There has already been grumbling around Coral Gables that Al Golden has not brought the Canes back to the level of prominence that the faithful would like to see.  Is losing to UC a fireable offense, in culmination of this lack of expected progress?

How does one explain Michigan State’s lackluster performance at home against weak Purdue?  The Boilermakers were just a field goal away late in the 4^th quarter from tying the game in regulation.  Have the Boilers improved that much in just one week since losing a near-gimme game the previous contest?  Regardless, it will be very interesting to see if Purdue can sustain any sort of improvement as the season progresses.

Ole Miss was rolling after defeating then-No. 3 Alabama in Tuscaloosa.  The Rebels thus proved that they were both a tough team to reckon with and a team that could win on the road in a hostile environment.  And yet, when they ventured into The Swamp to play Florida, they laid an egg.  Yes, the Gators are improving week-by-week under the able leadership of Jim McElwain, but this alone cannot explain such an embarrassing defeat.  Perhaps Coach Freeze did not have his men fully prepared, or, a critical mass of the team decided to take the game off, thinking it would not be as challenging as playing Bama.  Such are the vicissitudes of college football, where 19 and 20-year olds are susceptible to such emotional roller coasters week to week that can negatively affect their level of play.  It is a problem that coaches do not have to deal with in the pros, thankfully.

On a bright note, Bobby Petrino has his Louisville Cardinals slowly improving.  Yes, they got their first win in a body bag game at home against Samford, but then they won, on the road, against a decent NC State team, in the rain.  If that is not improvement, can somebody tell me what is?